Safety device for elevators.



E. E. GRAEBING.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

APPLICATION man DEC. H. 1913.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

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E; E. GRAEBING.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS APPLICATION man mac. n, I915- Patented Apr. 3,

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"MA w MN m HIHIHH Ill h 1 I! I! I EDWARD E, GRAEBING, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 3, 1917.

Application filed December 11, 1915. Serial No. 66,282.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. GRAEBING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Elevators, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in safety devices for elevators and has for its object the production of a device by means of which the elevator door is held in locked position while the elevator is in motion.

A further object of my invention is the production of means whereby the elevator controller is locked against movement while the door is in open position.

A further object is the production of an eflicient safety device that can be applied to elevators now in use at a small cost.

A further object is the production of a device of simple and cheap construction and one not liable todisarrangement of parts.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 represents an elevation showingmy device with the elevator door closed;

Fig. 2 represents a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. l looking inthe direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 3 represents an enlarged sectional elevation of the locking mechanism on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4; v I I Fig. 4 represents a horizontal sectional view on the line l1 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 5 represents an enlarged perspective View of the locking bolt;

Fig. 6 represents an enlarged perspective view of the releasing bolt.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, 8 represents the car having a floor 9 and side Walls 10; 11 represents one of the floors of the building and 12 an elevator door sliding either in a groove in the floor or on the floor itself and protecting the opening into the elevator shaft. The controlling lever 13 is pivoted within the car in any desired manner, for instance mounted at 1 1 and sliding within the are 14*. The locking mechanism designated as a whole by the numeral 15 is mounted on the inside of the elevator at one side of the door adjacent the opening and comprises a casing 16 and a plate 17 secured to the side 10.

A sliding plate 18 is mounted to slide up and down within the casing and provided with a circular opening 19 to register with a corresponding opening 20 in the base of the plate. An opening 21 is provided in the wall registering with the opening in the casing, but slightly smaller in diameter than said opening. The sliding plate 18 is connected to the'lever by means of a pair of links 22 and 22? the upper end of the link 22 being pivotally connected to the bar 23 on the top of which the sliding plate 18 is mounted. The outer end of the link 22 is pivotally mounted on the lever 13 at 24., the two links being connected at 25. A lug 26 indicated but not shown is mounted on the side of the car having a pin 28 adapt ed to enter a slot 27 in the link 22*. It will be noted that this slot is convex upward so that the movement of the lever 13 causes the sliding plate 18 to move up and down within the casing 16.

hen the lever is in upright position as shown in Fig. 1, the opening 19 registers with the opening in the base plate and the side of the elevator.

A releasing bolt .29 shown in perspective in Fig. 5 is provided at one end with a peripheral flange 30 and with a slot 31 at the opposite end. The bolt itself fits within the opening 21 in the elevator wall, the head 30 fitting within the opening in the sliding plate and base of the casing and being held therein by reason of the shoulder 32 striking the side of the wall at 3 3.

A counterweight 34 is'pivotally mounted at -35 on a supporting lug 36 secured to the outside ofthe elevator and fits within the slot 31 in the releasing bolt, being held in place by means of a bolt 37 passing through the diagonal slot 38 in the counterweight and the bolt hole 39 in the releasing bolt 29. This counterweight is made of sufficient size to automatically hold the releasing bolt in the position shown in Fig. 3, that is, so that the head 30 is out of engagement with the sliding plate 18. When, however, the bolt 29 is pushed back so that the counterweight occupies the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the head 30 of the bolt fits within the opening in the sliding plate 18, holding it against movement and thus locking the elevator lever.

Referring now to the releasing mechanism which is mounted on the elevator door,

. this comprises a. flanged plate 39 screwed to the door in line with the casing 16 having a horizontal outwardly projecting flange 40 extending nearly the entire width of the door. Mounted on this flanged plate 39 is a releasing lever 41 having a handle 42 with an engaging end 43. This lever is pivotally mounted in supports 44 on the plate so that when the handle 42 is turned upwardly the engaging end 43 is also turned in the. same direction. This is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

At each floor opening close to and inside the elevator door is mounted an upright flat bar 45 bent diagonally upward at 46, again vertically at 47, horizontally at 48 and vertically at 49 parallel to the door and in line with the lower end of the bar. The diagonal portion, 40 is provided with a shoulder 50 adapted to engage a counterweighted rod '51 pivotally mounted at 52 on the horizontal portion 48 of the rod. This counterweight rod 51 has a ball 53 on its lower end but any other suitable means may be provided'to give the necessary weight.

The upset portion 47 of the flat bar is provided with a circular opening 54 registering with the opening 21 in the side of the elevator and the releasing bolt 55 shown in perspective in Fig. 6 is mounted to slide within this opening. This releasing bolt 55 is slotted at its inner end as shown at 56 and provided with enlarged ends 57 having flat faces 58 bored at 59 and adapted to receive a bolt 59 passing therethrough and through the counterweighted rod 51 which is mounted within the slot 56. The upright portion of the counterweight is also slotted as shown at 60 so that as it is swung upwardly itforces the releasing bolt 55 forwardly against the end of the locking bolt 29.

The members just described are so positioned that the engaging end 43 when turned upwardly strikes against the counterweighted rod 51 raising it and at the same time forcing the end 61 of the releasing bolt against the end 62 of the locking bolt forcing the locking bolt forward within the open ing in the sliding plate 18.

When the locking and releasing members are in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4 it will be noted that the releasing bolt is slipped back so that its face 58 strikes against the end 63 of the flange 40; the flange being secured to the floor of the elevator shaft and the bolt being mounted withward and out of engagement with the flange 40. hen this is done the bolt may he slid backward, the outer edge 64 of the flange sliding on the rear face 65 of the releasing bolt and holding the releasing bolt in its forward position after it has forced the locking bolt into the sliding plate 18, thus locking the lever 13 in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1that is, the car is prevented from movement which can only be effected by the operation of the lever 13 and this lever is locked by the relative position of the parts as heretofore explained.

It will thus be seen that the elevator can be operatedup and down with the members normally in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and stopped or started at will without any hindrance so far as the locking mechanism is concerned, but it is to be noted that during this operation the elevator doors in the shaft are in closed position and held so by reason of the position of the releasing bolts at the various openings. hen the elevator is stopped at a floor and it is desired to open the door, this can only be done by operating the lever 42 which as explained before automatically throws the releasing bolt into contact with the locking bolt and locks the whole starting and stopping mechanism rigidly in the position shown in Fig. 1- When it is desired to start the elevator either up or down, this can only be accomplished by closing the door, and as soon as it is tightly closed, the face of the flange 64 passes out of engagement with the face 65 of the releasing belt, at which moment the counterweight 51 drops, sliding the releasing bolt back into the position shown in Fig. 4. At this instant the counterweight 34 drops backwardly assuming the position shown in Fig. 3 carrying the lockin bolt with it and out of the opening in the s iding plate 18, thus unlocking this plate and permitting the movement of the lever. While the lever is being operated, the openings in the plate and the side of the elevator are out of register and the locking bolt held in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and it can only assume the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 when the lever is in the upright position.

It will thus be seen that I have provided positive means whereby the elevator cannot be operated up and down while the door is open. Neither can the door in the elevator shaft be opened or closed while the elevator is in motion, thus eliminating the danger of most .of the accidents occasioned in the use of the elevator, absolutely preventing people from falling into open shafts or stepping out of an elevator when it is in motion.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a device of the class set forth, a controller on the cage, a locking member adapted to be shifted by the act of shifting the controller, a pin slidably mounted in the Wall of the cage and means for normally pressing it outwardly out of engagement With said locking member, a slidable bolt supported on the Wall structure and adapted to aline with the aforesaid bolt when the car is at the landing, gravity means for normally holding this latter bolt back out of operative position, and means carried on the door for manually advancing this latter bolt to thereby cause the lock bolt to move inwardly into engagement With the aforesaid locking member.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

EDWARD E. GRAEBING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, I). G. 

